21 Jan 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

7.0°C > 10.0°C: Not such a good sunrise with steadily increasing cloud. A very light shower. Increasing south-westerly and sometimes gusty wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 08:09 GMT

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:35 – 09:30

(10th visit of the year)

Still c.50% ice. Surface of ground mostly thawed; still frozen underneath in places.

Bird notes:
- Gull number 'dropped off a cliff' with the arrival of the milder weather. Strange, considering the low total, single Great Black-backed and Caspian Gulls were present.
- I noted two drake Gadwall together. Later I saw two single drakes at different places around the water but I never saw two together again. Just two?
- An unusual sight these days was the arrival of a group of twelve mainly immature Cormorants. These did not stay long. There had been an earlier single arrival and there was one remaining after the exodus. The same bird?
- From my position I could not tell whether the second arriving Grey Heron did settle or was chased off straight away. It was not present late.
- No thrushes were tempted to sing. I did not see or heard any calls of Song Thrushes though two Mistle Thrushes flew silently over the football field later.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 121 Canada Geese: outbound in 12 groups
- 4 Greylag Geese: outbound together
- 1 Stock Dove
- 7 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 22 Jackdaws
- 23 Rooks
- 2 Pied Wagtails

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:
- 12 Redwings

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- *2 (2♂)? Gadwall: see notes
- 14 (9♂) Mallard
- 54 (25♂) Tufted Duck
- 11 Moorhens
- 79 Coots
- *c.150 Black-headed Gulls
- *1 Great Black-backed Gull: adult
- *5 Herring Gulls
- *1 Caspian Gull: adult
- *14 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- *13 Cormorants: gulp! see notes
- 2 Grey Herons

Noted on or around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:

Flies:
- 1 Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- *1 Dung Fly, perhaps Norellisoma spinimanum
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera regelationis

Beetles:
- *2 Rove Beetles Stenus sp.
- *1 unknown beetle sp.
- *1 weevil sp.

Other things
- *1 unidentified springtail

Fungus noted later:
- *Turkeytail Trametes versicolor
- *a species of crust fungus, perhaps one of the Corticiaceae

It did not look promising for a colourful sunrise.

Just a hint of salmon-tones...

...spreading...

...across half the sky...

...and fading.

Record shot only. One of the drake Gadwall present.

An adult Great Black-backed Gull towering over two first winter Herring Gulls.

Here flying off showing no contrast between the main area of the upper wing and the wing tip.

The gull on the right is the interesting bird. Its mantle (back) is noticeably darker than the Black-headed Gull at the back which suggests it is not a Herring Gull. The legs are pink so it is not a Yellow-legged Gull. I think the rather beady-looking dark eye indicates it is an adult Caspian Gull. An adult winter Lesser Black-backed Gull is in the left foreground. A first winter Herring Gull is mostly obscured behind it.

Look carefully. There are twelve Cormorants arriving. It is many years since I have seen a flock of this size appear. Sometime, probably in the 1980s, I recall over 80 arriving together, communally diving to herd the fish in to a corner of the water, gorging themselves and then flying off. They did this for several mornings and were gone.

A contemplative Pied Wagtail.

Searching for insects? This seems to be a first winter male, the black feathers of the adult plumage are starting to appear on its back.

A fly I cannot recall having seen before. The very hairy legs and general appearance suggests it is one of the Dung Flies. As usual there are several possibilities: it is perhaps Norellisoma spinimanum though I would need to be able to see that the legs have two rows of spines to be certain.

One of two Rove Beetles of the genus Stenus. There are many, hard to tell apart and none should be out and about in January.

And the other one, I presume of the same species.

Obsidentify said "unknown beetle". I suspect it really meant "unidentified beetle". I doubt it is new to science.

This weevil was on one of the street lamp poles. I cannot identify it either

This springtail is smaller and paler than any of the usual species. I have no suggestion.

Turkeytail Trametes versicolor is a very common fungus that can be found throughout the year on dead wood. My first example this year.

A harder to identify fungus here growing on the top and down the side of a cut tree trunk. Sifting through the various suggestions of a confused Obsidentify and looking at the NatureSpot web site leads me to suspect it is a species of crust fungus, perhaps one of the Corticiaceae.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35– 10:35

(19th visit of the year)

Still >75% iced over

Bird notes:
- A few Siskins were heard in the Alders on the island.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Herring Gull
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Noted on / around the water:
- 15 Canada Geese
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 38 (23♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- *30 (14♂) Tufted Duck
- 8 Moorhens
- 54 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 105 Black-headed Gulls
- *3 Herring Gulls: two first years and one third winter
- *1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult
- *1 Grey Heron

Elsewhere:
Nothing of special interest

An interesting Tufted Duck that I cannot sex for certain. The pale around the base of the bill indicates it is likely a first winter bird. The length of the tuft, albeit wind-assisted, suggests it is a drake. The contrast between the back and the flanks seems too great for a duck. However most drakes have pure white flanks by now.

This species always looks angry! A late-developing first winter drake? I really cannot say for sure.

A third winter Herring Gull showing some faint dark marks in the folded wing. The bill pattern is interesting. Enthusiastic birders have been known to claim Ring-billed Gull, a North American vagrant, on the basis of these marking. Not so: the vagrant is a smaller bird, the 'ring' is more centred on the bill with a greenish tip; and in winter the head streaking gives more of a necklaced effect.

This adult winter Lesser Black-backed Gull was commuting between house roofs in the estate and the water. From below it can be separated from a Herring Gull by the dark shading along the whole length of rear underwing: a Herring Gull shows paler inner primaries, giving rise to what is known as a 'window'.

Here, at rather greater distance than I would have liked, there is contrast between the main part of the wing and the black tips (unlike the Great Black-backed Gulls shown above).

With more open water a Grey Heron was back.

Posing.

Did I mention the bye-law requiring me to photograph Robins?

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2014
Priorslee Lake
2 Greater Scaup
1 Velvet Scoter
117 Coots
1 Great Black-backed Gull
4 Redwings
c.274 Jackdaws
(Ed Wilson / Mike Stokes)

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
1 Greater Scaup
1 Goldeneye
26 Wigeon
4 Gadwall
1 Shoveler
22 Pochard
76 Tufted Ducks
157 Coots
1 Common Gull
144 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
74 Herring Gulls
4 Great Black-backed Gulls
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Adult Caspian Gull
1 Yellow-legged Gull
(Andy Latham)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Juvenile Glaucous Gull
Juvenile Iceland Gull
(Observer Unknown)

2007
Priorslee Lake
2 Pochard
36 Tufted Ducks
c.195 Black-headed Gulls
48 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
34 Herring Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
3 Great Black-backed Gulls
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Gadwall
5 Pochard
11 Tufted Duck
132 Coot
2 Water Rail
c.1600 Black-headed Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
428 Jackdaws
438 Rook
300 Wood Pigeons
14 Robin
80 Fieldfare
30 Redwing
11 Blackbird
1 Willow Tits
6 Greenfinch
65 Siskins
6 Redpolls
8 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)